Good And Evil In The Film Pan's Labyrinth

The controversy between those who believe humans are inherently good versus inherently evil has been debated for ages. However, the idea that humans are neither good nor evil, and instead shape their values along with their character through experience seems to be the winning argument. While the majority of people land up somewhere in the center rather than either of the extreme ends, some become humanitarians and philanthropists whereas others become monsters. Stephen T. Asma defines a monster as “human beings who have, by their own horrific actions, abdicated their humanity.” In their search for power, humans abandon their empathy in favor of commiting monstrous acts. In the film Pan’s Labyrinth, the character of Captain Vidal symbolizes

the monstrous nature of humans and their greed for power exemplified by his morally corrupt values.

Through Captain Vidal’s lack of regard for the enemy soldiers, his morally corrupt values surrounding the war symbolize the monstrous nature of humans and their greed for power .

Vidal’s belief is that the war must be won at any cost no matter the consequences, throwing out all ethics and empathy in favor of gaining power in the war. When coming across medicine left behind by enemy soldiers he realizes that one must be injured. In order to force them out of hiding he seizes the opportunity and tells his soldiers “to block their access to medicine and supplies.” In doing so Vidal then ensures his own people receiving specified rations as well, which only amplifies the hold he has on everyone around him. Trusting no one but himself, Vidal keeps the solitary key to the supply room, and it is due to that very lack of trust and human consideration that he slowly becomes increasingly

monstrous.

Captain Vidal’s morally corrupt values surrounding his underlings symbolize the monstrous nature of humans and their greed for power as seen through his killing of two innocent farmers and the treatment of his subordinates. He secures his power by inducing fear in his soldiers,showing them that he has no qualms with doing what he believes is necessary to win the war. He continuously remarks that there is “no one above [him]” as a reminder. Vidal callously kills two innocent farmers to forewarn his men as to what would happen should they make such mistakes again. Later, he shoots the doctor and tortures Mercedes without a second thought after learning that they aided the enemy soldiers. He values loyalty and obedience over all else and doesn’t hesitate to take extreme measures when feeling threatened. Vidal does anything and everything he can to stay on top by suppressing the slight power in defiance his servants have, shaping him into the monster he is.

Vidal’s dismissive behaviour towards his family symbolizes the monstrous nature of human greed and the need to make a mark on the world.

Initially, he forces his wife to make the journey to his base so that the child would be born with him present, then tells the doctor to save his child without care as to what happens to his wife. Throughout the film he is attentive to her simply to ensure the child is born healthy. Nevertheless, he constantly tells her that she’s being foolish and tells others to “forgive [his] wife” for her “silly stories” as “she hasn’t been exposed to the world.” Although the majority of the movie portrays Vidal as a monstrous and greed-driven human, however, with any issue regarding his son he acts as a caring father. Most likely, however, this is due to the fact that he wants to protect and pass on his, as well as his father’s, legacy through his bloodborne heir. It is thus then due to the fact that Ofelia is female, isn’t related by blood, and continuously resists his plays for authority over her, that Vidal shoots her without

hesitation.

At the end of the film Vidal ends up physically appearing as the monster he symbolically represented throughout the film with cuts on his face and blood running down it. He chases after Ofelia, like a monster going after the hero would, and murders her in cold blood in his last attempt to salvage his power through the legacy he would leave with his son. The monster he was throughout the film was consequential of the control he strived to maintain over the world around him through his horrific actions just as Asma had said. Despite there having been many other beings in the film which looked far more like the stereotypical monster one would imagine, Vidal still managed to be the worst of the lot as the human monster as without one’s humanity they end up becoming the monster of their story.